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Housing and Neighborhood Characteristics and Latino Farmworker Family Well-Being

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Abstract

Housing quality and neighborhood characteristics affect individual health and family well-being. This analysis describes characteristics of farmworker housing and neighborhoods and delineates the associations of housing and local neighborhood with indicators of family well-being. Mothers in North Carolina farmworker families (n = 248) completed interviews in 2011–2012. Family well-being measures included stress, family conflict, and outward orientation. Housing measures included ownership and facilities, and neighborhood measures included heavy traffic and driving time to grocery stores. Families experienced elevated stress and conflict, and limited outward orientation. Few owned their homes, which were generally crowded. Few had enclosed play spaces for their children. For many, traffic made it difficult to walk on the street. Housing and neighborhood characteristics were related to increased stress and limited outward orientation. Housing and neighborhood characteristics are important for research on the health of families in vulnerable populations, such as farmworker families.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Grant R01 HD059855 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National of Child Health and Human Development.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family and Community Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157, USA

    Thomas A. Arcury

  2. Wake Forest School of Medicine, Center for Worker Health, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Thomas A. Arcury, Grisel Trejo, Edward H. Ip & Sara A. Quandt

  3. Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Grisel Trejo & Sara A. Quandt

  4. Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Biostatistical Sciences, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Cynthia K. Suerken & Edward H. Ip

  5. Department of Human Development and Family Science, Oklahoma State University, Tulsa, OK, USA

    Joseph G. Grzywacz

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  1. Thomas A. Arcury
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  2. Grisel Trejo
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  3. Cynthia K. Suerken
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  4. Joseph G. Grzywacz
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Correspondence to Thomas A. Arcury.

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Arcury, T.A., Trejo, G., Suerken, C.K. et al. Housing and Neighborhood Characteristics and Latino Farmworker Family Well-Being. J Immigrant Minority Health 17, 1458–1467 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-014-0126-4

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